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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

His job on the line, Booth quietly sat in the office of the Director of the Jeffersonian while one of the regents ranted and complained about the damage done by a lunatic to a statue on loan to the Jeffersonian. "If this is the best that you can do then maybe it's time to let you go and get someone else that can do your job."

Furious, Director Foor protested that statement. "Now wait a minute."

Interrupting the Director, Booth held up his hand. "Let's get something straight, Mr. Beacon. I'd like to remind you that I presented before this board two months ago, a request for metal detectors at the main entrances to the Jeffersonian. One of the reasons I requested that we get those detectors was to prevent lunatics from bringing in weapons to use against the priceless artwork we have and against the people who work here, but I was turned down. You Sir was the one who stood up in this room and told me that it was an unnecessary waste of money. You absolutely refused to even consider hand held metal detectors because it would require me to hire more security to operate them. Now a priceless statue has been damaged due to your parsimony."

Spluttering Bill Beacon shook his head. "Me? You're the head of security. If your people were properly trained this wouldn't have happened."

He knew that the man was wrong and Booth was going to hold him responsible, job be damned. "Is that right? The man hid a hammer in his jacket pocket. A metal detector would have alerted my people that he had it, but because he was just allowed to enter the Jeffersonian that lunatic damaged a statue that the Greek Government is going to hold us accountable for. What did you want my people to do? Short of strip searching everyone that enters this building their hands are tied. They don't have x-ray eyes, they can't see through patrons' clothes or bags. I'm pretty sure that no one would like to be pat down when they enter this place and even if they did, that would require me to hire more security, something you refuse to allow me to do. So, yes, this is most definitely your fault and not mine and not my people."

Reaching up, Regent Mary Sumerlin grabbed Bill's arm and yanked him down to his seat. "Sit down Bill, Mr. Booth is right." Turning to look at Booth, Mary shook her head. "Most of us aren't as dense as Bill is Mr. Booth. We clearly didn't think through your proposal like we should have and now we're being forced to. Please resubmit your budget including the metal detectors and we'll pass your budget. We'd like to have those installed as soon as possible."

Pleased that he'd gotten through, Booth nodded his head. "Good. As soon as you sign off on it, I'll contact several companies and see which one can provide us with what we need. In the meantime, I'm going to purchase some hand held metal detectors and have my security people use them at all the entrances. No one will be allowed to enter the Jeffersonian without a scan. If anyone refuses then they will not be allowed to enter the Jeffersonian. Oh, when I say anyone that includes patrons, employees and regents. I'll have signs installed at all of the entrances explaining why we are doing it so that anyone entering the place will know why. Once the 'walk through' metal detectors are installed then the hand held ones will be discontinued."

Curious, Mary asked, "Why everyone? Surely you trust us and the employees that work here?"

Shaking his head, Booth replied, "You don't pay me to trust anyone. I'd like to remind you that not too long ago we had a murder here at the Jeffersonian and a serial cannibalistic killer found a way to enter this building anytime he wanted to. I've tried to tighten up security here, but there is still a lot more to be done. This is a huge complex with several private entrances as well as the two main public entrances."

Resigned, Bill Beacon folded his arms across his chest. "Fine . . . do it your way."

Booth had won and that was the important part. "You hired me to do a job. If you let me do it, you just might find out that I'm worth what you're paying me."

Oooooooooooooooooo

Standing at the main entrance, Booth and Lester observed the new sign being placed near the entrance.

As they watched the workman screw the sign into the wall, Lester nodded his head. "When do we get the 'walk through' metal detectors?"

"The budget passed unanimously, I just need to contact the companies I'm interested in, get some bids and have those bids approved by Director Foor." Watching one of his security team joke with a teenager as he passed the wand over the boys jacket pockets, Booth smiled."I like that guy."

Lester chuckled. "He has four kids. He should know how to handle kids by now."

Assured that his changes were being implemented, Booth looked at his watch. "Come on, I need to check the other entrances before we go home. I want to go home at a decent hour today."

Oooooooooooooooooo

Lying in bed, Brennan rested her head on his shoulder. Her hand rubbing his panting, she felt his heart beat start to slow back to normal.

Booth breathed heavily, tired but happy. "I thought you wanted to go to bed because you were tired?"

Chuckling, Brennan kissed his shoulder. "Well, I'm tired now."

His eyes closed, Booth captured her hand with his hand. "I have a new list of houses we can look at this weekend. Want to look at them? Fall is coming up fast and we still haven't found anything that we like. I sure as hell don't want to be moving when winter gets here. That would just be a mess."

Brennan listened to his breath return to normal and was satisfied that her husband was getting better, his health was improving. "Yes, we'll look at them this weekend. I think we need to lower our expectations. No house we buy is going to be perfect. It's only necessary that the bones of the house be strong. We can always renovate whatever we purchase."

Booth opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Yeah, you're probably right. I just don't want to settle on something when we can do better."

Sleepy, Brennan yawned. "We still have time, Booth. Don't get discouraged."

Kissing her forehead, Booth smiled. "I'm not discouraged. We'll find our house. If we have to move in the snow then so be it."

Snuggling into his shoulder, Brennan muttered, "We'll find something Booth."

Oooooooooooooo

Entering the last house on their list, Booth looked around and found that he liked the proportion of the living room. Following Brennan, he moved slowly through the room and towards the kitchen. The hardwood floors polished and gleaming, Booth moved carefully into the kitchen. The floors a terra cotta tile, Booth was impressed with the clean look and he really liked the dimensions of the spacious room. The realtor, Denise Sharp, walked over to the back door and opened it. "You really need to see the back yard. You'll really be impressed . . . really."

With the aide of his crutches, Booth carefully moved to the back door and then walked out into the backyard. Stunned, Booth found the back yard to be exactly what they had been looking for. A small in-ground pool on the right side of the property, a wrought iron fence encircling it, looked well taken care of. Three oak trees in the back yard provided deep shade for most of the yard and the fact that the entire yard was enclosed with a wooden fence pleased both Booth and Brennan.

Pointing to the left side of the yard, Brennan remarked, "There is just enough sunlight on that portion of the yard to allow me to plant a small garden."

Surprised, Booth moved over to the edge of the deck and looked to his left. "You want to plant a garden?"

Studying the yard closely, Brennan smiled. "Yes, I like fresh vegetables and it would allow me to grow some of the herbs I like to use when I cook."

Since Booth loved to cook with fresh herbs, he liked the idea of having a garden too. Turning to look at the back of the house, Booth looked up and studied the roof and the paint on the siding. "Everything looks good, but we'll need an inspector to make sure."

Happy that everything was going so well, Denise smiled at her clients. "Now let's look at the rest of the house, shall we?"

Following Brennan back into the kitchen, Booth walked/hopped over to the door near the kitchen sink and opened it. Peering inside, Booth flipped on a light switch causing the stairs leading down to the basement to be bathed in light. Turning to look at Brennan, Booth pointed at the stairs. "Want to look at it?"

Curious as to what she would find, Brennan stepped past her husband. "Wait here and I'll take a look."

Moving out of her way, Booth watched as his wife and Denise move slowly down the stairs. After a few minutes, Booth called out, "Hey Bones."

Pleased with what she had found, Brennan called back up to him to assure him. "It's very spacious Booth. I'm taking a few pictures so you can see it. Just wait a few more minutes."

His knee starting to hurt, Booth moved out of the kitchen and back into the living room. Sitting on the stairs leading up to the top floor, Booth held his crutches between his knees and twirled them.

Surprised to find Booth missing from the kitchen when she reentered the room, Brennan hurriedly left the room and found him as soon as she entered the living room. Smiling, Brennan handed him her phone. "It has a very nice living space downstairs. It has a laundry room and a half bath as well. It would be perfect for a family room or a guest bedroom."

Scrolling through the pictures, Booth was impressed with what he saw. "Looking good, Bones."

Booth stood up and hopped out of the way. "I'll let you go upstairs and give the rooms a look over. I'll wait down here."

Moving past him, Brennan took her phone back. "I'll take more pictures."

As soon as Brennan was out of his sight, Booth walked down the hallway and inspected the small bathroom and a moderately sized room that he thought would make a great office or a guest bedroom. Moving back down the hallway, Booth inspected the fireplace. Satisfied, he moved back to the front door and exited the house. Sitting on the front steps Booth glanced around the quiet tree lined street and liked that the houses nearby seemed to be well kept.

Satisfied with her inspection, Brennan came back downstairs only to find Booth missing again. The front door open, Brennan walked outside with the nervous Denise and moved down the steps past Booth. Handing Booth her phone, Brennan walked around the yard to the garage to check out the sturdiness of the building.

Scrolling through the pictures, Booth was pleased to see that the rooms upstairs were what they were looking for. Standing, Booth moved carefully down the steps and around the yard to the garage. Meeting Brennan on her way back, Booth handed her her phone. "What do you think?"

Very pleased, Brennan smiled. "I think we found our house Booth."

Moving his left crutch to his right hand, Booth placed his arm around his partner and kissed her. "I think so too." Smiling, Booth kissed her again. "I knew if we were patient enough we'd find what we were looking for."

Hopeful, the realtor asked, "So you're prepared to make an offer on the house?"

Releasing Brennan, Booth moved his crutch back under his arm. "Yes, we are."

Her hand on his arm, Brennan pointed towards the garage. "There's a work shop in the back of the garage and it's big enough to hold two cars."

Excited, Booth grinned. "Hey, maybe I can move my mustang out of storage and I can finally start working on it again."'

Pleased that they had finally found what they were looking for, Brennan nodded her head, "You're happy."

His eyes gleaming, Booth glanced around the yard and really liked what he saw. "Oh yeah, Bones. This is it. We're finally going to have a house we can call ours. The best part, wait until Parker finds out we have a swimming pool. He's going to drive his mother nuts wanting to come and stay with us."

Oooooooooooooo

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